PONIES AND PONY-BREEDING 159 



the golden gift of patience, and can afford to wait a few years for the 

 return of his money, he should eventually succeed, as others have succeeded 

 before him. 



Of course, if a person possesses the means, and is impatient to show 

 profitable and satisfactory results, he can indulge at once in the luxury of 

 procuring the best of blue-blooded pony mares and stallions; and unless his 

 operations are attended by the most cruel luck, he can then start with 

 almost a certainty of breeding good-looking foals that can be raised at a 

 profit. On the other hand, the man who proposes to begin at the begin- 

 ning, as other successful breeders have done before him, and who possesses 

 both judgment and patience, should in the course of a few years show even 

 better results, for though he will naturally have to wait longer for a return 

 of his money, the profits will be proportionally higher in the end, and 

 his stock will be increasing every year in value. On the contrary, if he 

 starts with expensive animals he runs the risk of incurring severe losses 

 by death, or having to pay large premiums for insurance; besides which, 

 there cannot be so great an increase in the value of his stud as there 

 would be if he commenced with lower-priced foundation stock and worked 

 at it until the desired improvement had been eflected. There is, moreover, 

 the fact remaining that although his capital, or a great deal of it, should lie 

 idle for a few years, the working expenses of a pony-breeding establishment 

 are not very heavy, even if they are not actually insignificant. The rent 

 of a hillside, a very appropriate situation for such a jolace, cannot pos- 

 sibly be more than a few shillings an acre; the necessaiy attendance upon 

 the animals whilst they were upon it cannot be much, and the expenses 

 of such additional forage as would be required in the winter and on certain 

 special occasions will not be likely to amount to more than a compara- 

 tively small sum. 



There is another point, moreover, for the pony-breeder to take into 

 consideration before he commences operations, and this is the probability 

 that exists of his always finding a market, and a ready one, for his surplus 

 foals. This in itself should form no small inducement to a person who may 

 be anxious to try his luck, as the prospect of having stock on hand which 

 he is desirous of disposing of not infrequently acts as a deterrent to an 

 intending breeder. There is always a demand for ponies, be they good- 

 looking or only commoners, and therefore so long as the small tradesman 

 and the costermonger exist, so long will a man be able to dispose of his 

 culls, and such transactions should certainly yield some profit to the 

 vendor. If the misfits can pay their own way, the profits on the better 

 class of animal, not to mention the " cracks " when they begin to make 

 their welcome appearance, will be considerable. 



